The subject matter disclosed herein relates to optical storage, and more particularly, to techniques for coding data in optical storage systems.
As computing power has advanced, computing technology has entered new application areas, such as consumer video, data archiving, document storage, imaging, and movie production, among others. These applications have provided a continuing push to develop data storage techniques that have increased storage capacity and increased data rates.
One example of the developments in data storage technologies may be the progressively higher storage capacities for optical storage systems. For example, the compact disc, developed in the early 1980s, has a capacity of around 650-700 MB of data, or around 74-80 min. of a two channel audio program. In comparison, the digital versatile disc (DVD) format, developed in the early 1990s, has a capacity of around 4.7 GB (single layer) or 8.5 GB (dual layer). Furthermore, even higher capacity storage techniques have been developed to meet higher demands, such as the demand for higher resolution video formats. For example, high-capacity recording formats, such as the Blu-ray Disc™ format, is capable of holding about 25 GB in a single-layer disc, or 50 GB in a dual-layer disk. As computing technologies continue to develop, storage media with even higher capacities may be desired. For example, holographic storage systems and micro-holographic storage systems are examples of other developing storage technology that may achieve future capacity requirements in the storage industry.
Along with increases in data capacity, high data rates are also desired. For example, the video bit rate for a standard DVD format may be about 9.8 Mbps, and the video bit rate for a standard Blu-ray Disc™ format may be about 40.0 Mbps. Further data rate increases may also be expected as higher capacity storage systems (e.g., holographic or micro-holographic storage systems) are developed.
Data rates may be at least partially limited by the speed at which data may be recorded and retrieved. For example, in optical storage systems, data may be encoded and recorded to an optical disc by a read or write head (e.g., detector head). The recorded data may be read by the detector and decoded to retrieve the original information. Thus, methods for increasing the rate and accuracy at which data may be recorded and/or retrieved may obtain desirably higher data rates.